Abstract
Presentation of the Activities and Results of the Italian-American Archeological Mission in Aswan and Kom Ombo.
Prof. Antonio Curci, University of Bologna, Prof. Maria Carmela Gatto, Yale University
The Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP), currently sponsored by Yale University and University of Bologna, is working in the Aswan-Kom Ombo region since 2005.
Founder and project director is Maria Carmela Gatto while Antonio Curci joined the project as Co-director since 2010.
The purpose of the project is to gain a clearer picture of the interaction between Nubians and Egyptians in their borderland in different historical periods, with an emphasis on the Nubian groups.
It can be safely said that AKAP is the only project currently working in Egypt that has Nubian Archaeology as its main interest. To ensure a comprehensive and a deep understanding of the Nubian evidence, a great number of scholars involved in the project are specialists in Nubian Archaeology and have long experience in the field.
The large international team is composed of people from different countries, although the majority is coming from Italy, USA, Belgium, Poland, Germany, England, Canada and Egypt. They are world-wide experts in different fields of Nubian Archaeology, Archaeological Sciences and Egyptology.
In order to maximize the results selected areas in the Aswan-Kom Ombo region were chosen for the field work. They include the West Bank from Qubbet el-Hawa north to Wadi el-Tawil, Wadi Kubbaniya, Wadi Abu Subeira and a section of the desert east of Kom Ombo.
Although previous investigations have uncovered some important sites, our current work has revealed far more, most of which are located on the west bank of the Nile.
Chronologically the sites cover a time span that goes from the Middle Paleolithic to the Ottoman period. Their typology is very heterogeneous. They consist of rock art stations and rock inscriptions, surface scatters of potsherds, concentrations of lithic artefacts, cemeteries, settlements, quarries, a temple and a monastery. Rock engravings are placed on the walls of the sandstone formations rising steeply from the river’s edge, the same location as all the Greco-Roman funerary remains. Predynastic, C-Group and Pan-Grave sites are on the edge of the valley or on the lower terraces of the gebel. Prehistoric sites are on the terraces overlooking the Nile or along the wadis, while the Greco-Roman temple and the Coptic monastery at Sheikh Mohamed, as well as the Greco-Roman town at Nag el-Tawil, and the Ottoman settlement at Kubbaniya are right along the river.
The information gathered during these years of fieldwork reveals a long-term and stable presence of Nubian groups in the area between Aswan and Kom Ombo, both along the river and in the deserts. Evidence related to the Nubian A-Group, C-Group, Pan-Grave, Meroitic and Blemmies have been recorded and the interaction with their Egyptian counterpart clearly differs through time. The Nubian component may be intermixed with the Egyptian one, such as during the Predynastic period, or being distinct from the Egyptian, as during the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. The investigation is still ongoing and more understanding on the matter is expected although the reconnaissance has unfortunately and dramatically brought to light that the majority of the sites are in danger because of land reclamation and quarry activities.
